


Through a Grandmother's Eyes

by lostinthewords



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-09
Updated: 2013-01-09
Packaged: 2017-11-24 07:50:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/632120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostinthewords/pseuds/lostinthewords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finnick has spent the day with his grandmother and everything is going it's usual smooth way. That is, until Annie is mentioned and tension arises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through a Grandmother's Eyes

Finnick sat across from the old woman sitting on the straw chair. She had withered skin, worn from years spent in the water and the same sea-green eyes as Finnick, her grandson. They were both occupied with making a straw mat from complex knots, working in silence with a light breeze drifting in from the open back door.

"She's not a wise idea you know," the old woman, Abigail, said casually, as if it was the most normal thing to say. Finnick's hands stopped at once. The conversation between the two so far had been okay. They talked about the neighbourhood news and what Finnick had missed while taking Annie on the victory tour two weeks ago. Abigail had taught him a new knot she'd learnt and made sure he had it perfect before letting him help her with her mat. He was caught off guard by this comment and forced himself to ask who she meant, even though he knew deep down who it was.

"Annie, of course. Who did you think I meant?" Finnick didn't even have a chance to reply before his grandmother continued.

"She's not suitable for you." Abigail put her work down and moved it out the way, gathering Finnick's end so the mat was in a neat bundle. "You know she isn't." For a moment Finnick was speechless. Eventually he found the words he needed.

"She is perfectly suitable for me. No one has any right to say otherwise," he replied through gritted teeth.

"Love, let's be realistic. She's going mad-"

"She's not going mad. It's okay when I'm around."

"Barely. What about later on Finnick? What about children? You think she could keep it together then? We all saw what she went through, she was in this year's hunger games. She'll go coo-coo like the rest of them." It was this that made Finnick feel anger for the first time since Annie came back to him.

"You don't have a clue do you?" he spat out. All of a sudden, the atmosphere went cold. Finnick never acted like this; he usually treated Abigail with so much respect. He usually treated everyone in District 4 with respect, as he knew what it was like to be treated like dirt, particularly from people in the Capitol. Now, he felt ashamed and neither of them spoke for a few minutes.

"I…" Finnick began. "I'm sorry." He shuffled his foot awkwardly on the polished wooden floor, not daring to look his grandmother in the eyes. "I'd better go, it's-"

"-Don't. I have something to say." Finnick was halfway through getting up and stayed like this until Abigail nodded at him to sit back down. She leant forward and put her hands on his. "You love her right?" He answered without having to say a word; his smile was enough to show how much he did.

"More than anything."

"I may still think she'll turn out mad, after all it's happened to old Joe from the 58th games and plenty of others since, but here me out. If you love her, don't let her go. I saw the same look in your eyes when you asked if I don't have a clue that I saw in your grandfather's. The same look he had when he asked me to be his wife, and the same look I saw everyday until his accident." A moment of weakness passed as they remembered her husband. "It can take a lifetime to find love like that and not many people do. What I'm trying to say is don't leave her as long as you still feel like this. Look after her." By now, Finnick was holding back a sob.

"Thank you. I won't. I'm never going to." With a grateful smile, he stood up, properly this time. "Now I'd really better go." Abigail just smiled back and him and picked up her mat to continue the knots.

To cut a bit of time down, Finnick left through the back door and jumped over the fence, which was thankfully short enough to be safe, and headed toward the beach and the rocky descent down. As he reached the sand path between the rocks, he made himself a promise to love Annie for as long as her heart stayed beating.


End file.
